The chair of the Scottish Parliament education committee has called on the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to release a report concerning the organisation’s handling of a major marking and communications controversy, The Herald can exclusively reveal.
The materials, the existence of which were revealed during a recent committee session, were described as representing a “lessons learned process” after the exam board faced widespread criticism for its response to concerns about the 2024 Higher History exam.
Committee chair Douglas Ross MSP told The Herald that he has written to the exam board to demand the release of the materials, and that he believes it must do so if it wants to be “seen as an open and transparent organisation".
An SQA spokesperson confirmed that the report is “based on the reflections in the 2024 Higher History Review” but offered no explanation why they have not published it.
The existence of the report was first revealed during a session of the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee on Wednesday, February 19. Members heard from Shirley Rogers, the Chair of the SQA board, as well as John Booth and Donna Stewart.
Mr Booth was the head of communications at this time, a role he had held since 2021, but has since been confirmed as the interim Chief Executive following the surprise resignation of the previous post-holder, Fiona Robertson, last month. Ms Stewart has also been promoted and is now the Chief Examining Officer.
During the session Ms Rogers said that, although she supported the SQA review into the exam board’s handling of Higher History, she had asked the organisation’s qualifications committee to engage in a “a lessons-learned process”.
Asked to clarify when this took place, she confirmed that a “piece of work was commissioned before Christmas, and it was considered and agreed to at the most recent qualifications committee meeting”.
Although she was asked to clarify if this happened before or after the former Chief Executive’s previous appearance before the same committee, Ms Rogers said that she “could not be specific about that date”. She subsequently offered to send this information to the committee at a later date.
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The Herald approached the SQA on the same day as the committee session asking for a copy of the document in question to be released. In response, a spokesperson said that they would respond the following morning.
The next day, the SQA issued a statement confirming that the materials exist, before going on to reference changes to the exam board’s awarding policy that are due to be implemented this summer. No documents were attached and no explanation for the refusal to release the requested information was provided.
The Herald responded by once again asking for the relevant information to be released, to which the SQA responded that they “can't provide any more info at this stage".
Despite subsequently indicating that the materials would be provided as requested, the SQA has thus far failed to do so, and confirmed that it is adhering to this position when approached for this article.
The Herald has submitted Freedom of Information requests to the SQA in an attempt to secure the release of the relevant material.
The SQA was forced to launch an investigation after teachers, including current markers, reported that the standard for Higher History had been altered after the exam had taken place in May 2024. They accused the exam board, and specifically those in charge of History marking, of “moving the goalposts” and subjecting students to an “unfair” process.
Critics argued that this change was behind a 25% drop in pupils’ performance levels in the Scottish History part of the exam, and a thirteen percentage point decline in the overall pass rate.
However, the exam board faced widespread criticism over the decision, made by former Chief Executive Fiona Robertson, to have SQA officials carry out the review, which ultimately exonerated the organisation and blamed teachers and pupils for falling test scores.
Teachers and other commentators subsequently dismissed the work as a “whitewash”.
The Education, Children and Young People Committee, which has been investigating the controversy, had previously heard from the SQA in relation to this matter. It has also taken evidence from members of the Scottish Association for Teachers of History (SATH).
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Committee chair Douglas Ross MSP told The Herald that the exam board should publish the “lessons learned” materials, and confirmed that he has requested that the chair of the SQA ensure this happens: “It was very clear at the evidence session we held with the SQA that a lessons-learned report had been published for an internal committee to consider.
“If the SQA do truly want to be seen as an open and transparent organisation then they should publish the report as many questions are still being asked about last year’s Higher History exam and the SQA’s investigation into it.
“As a committee member, I have requested this report from the Chair of the SQA and I hope to receive a positive response. I am also raising this with the Cabinet Secretary for Education who promised in parliament to update MSPs with further updates on the issues surrounding the 2024 Higher History exam.”
A spokesperson for the SQA said: “The work discussed at the Education, Children and Young People Committee earlier this month is based on the reflections in the 2024 Higher History Review, available on our website.
“The refreshed awarding policy for 2025 – including the early warning process referenced during that committee session – will be published in full on Results Day in August in line with our long-established practice.”
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